


Little Bit Of Love

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Other, Petstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 18:45:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5259632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's twelve breeds of trolls, but the only two that remain in the wild are the Amporas and Pisces. The docks of a bustling city are a great place for a young aquatic troll to find food and shelter, but sometimes things go wrong. <br/>Dirk is a laid-back mechanic who has never seen a troll in his life. When he saves an injured Ampora, he quickly learns that these creatures are much more than exotic pets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Bit Of Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is old as heck and it was inspired by a picture on tumblr and other petstuck fanfictions I read in the past, but hell if i can remember what or where they are. I just know that the idea is definitely not original and I'm not an ass who would claim it is B)   
> ... I'm barely even a part of the homestuck fandom anymore...

I'd been walking along the dock every Friday after work for almost a year. It was relaxing and helped me unwind for the weekend ahead, where there was little to do but much stress to be had. It was early autumn and the weather was a bit chilly, but still a solid seventy degrees. The dock stretched out in front of me, with people of all shapes, sizes, and colors bustling about. The air smelled like food and seasalt and I remembered I had to stop and pick up something to eat.

I never spoke to the people when I walked, but there was something about being around others that comforted me. The little kids were slopping ice cream everywhere, and the adults were talking on their phones or watching the ocean and the boats or buying this and that. It was daunting yet satisfying to imagine that they all had lives that I wasn't aware of and that I would never know. Once in a while I'd see somebody I knew, and they'd drop in for a few seconds with “Hey Dirk!” and then part again. It was nice.

I listened to their words as I walked along the dark wood. All of the vendors set up in the same area, and since it was time to go back to my apartment and work on a few projects, I was heading away from them, and therefore the people. The sun was still high in the sky but it was falling fast.

The warehouses were always eerily quiet. Nobody went down to them aside from the boaters that used them. Most people thought they were sort of creepy and smelly, which they were, but that didn't bother me all that much. I took my usual route along the side of the dock, as close to the water as I could get. The ocean had a lulling sound about it, one I never really tired of. I put my hands in my pockets and stared out across the horizons and the boats that dotted it. I rounded a corner in the dock and then the people were behind me and the area was vacant ahead. On the side of the dock that wasn't the ocean there was some foliage that hid the warehouses from the view of most of the city residents.

Something caught my eye from a good ways in front of me. Where the dock bent to sea to allot more space for the warehouses, I saw somebody down near the water on one of the ladders. I stopped for a moment to watch them. It looked like a homeless person, or just some ratty guy, maybe in his forties. His legs were submerged in the water and he was doing something with his hands. His hair was long and greasy and his clothes were tattered.

I decided to keep going and continued walking towards him. Instead of taking the turn and making my way along the outside of the buildings, I would go straight into town to avoid whatever the man was up to.

I decided that, sure, until there was a sudden commotion and something was thrown out of the water onto the dock.

I stopped again and looked over at the man. It really wasn't my business, but now I was curious. He was hurriedly climbing out of the water with- a knife. He had a knife in his hand.

Maybe he caught a fish and was planning on eating it, that was my first thought. I took a few steps towards the commotion, maybe to just get a closer look.

The man sat the knife on the ground. I couldn't see the fish, but I knew you weren't supposed to take the fish from near the dock.  _He's homeless, though..._ I told myself.

I heard a little yelp that made my skin crawl. I looked closer at the 'fish' that I couldn't see very well and-

It wasn't a fish.

I took a step forward, and then another as the man picked up his knife again. They were still pretty far away. The thing on the dock was not a fish- it looked like something... almost human. And the man was crouching over it with a knife.

He was talking to it. I could smell the oily, putrid scent of somebody who hadn't showered in weeks from a few feet away as I trotted closer. I approached quickly and got behind him, mindful to stay out of view, but he was between me and whatever he'd thrown out of the water, so I couldn't see it anymore.

“Never had prawn before,” the man was saying. His voice was grating and it hurt my ears. “Yer gonna be tasty, hmm.”

Another yelp. I got close enough to see what it was on the ground.

I froze. It was probably the size of a two-liter soda bottle, maybe a bit bigger. The lower half just looked like a shrimp, or something like that, albeit in various hues of purple. The top half was not a shrimp, though.

It was like a little mermaid, with black hair and tiny fins and little horns, too.

And it was crying and thrashing and trying to get away from the man, who had the knife almost to its belly. It's little hands were on the top of the blade, trying to force it away. The look on its face was so frantically disturbing.

“I'm gonna eat you,” the man said quietly. “I'm gonna kill you and eat you, little guy.”

Chills went down my spine as he said this. The poor thing flailed harder and tried to get away, but the man wrapped a hand, that looked enormous by comparison, around its chest to hold its arms down. It wailed. It was mostly just a scream, but I swear it said 'no.'

I didn't really know what I was doing, but I quickly pushed the man away from it and grabbed his knife from him. He shouted something and I threw the blade into the ocean. Anybody who could kill and eat something that looked like that didn't deserve to have a knife. Or eat.

I glared at him. His face was fat and hairy and he looked like he hadn't bathed in months. He was close to the edge of the dock. I remembered that there was a ladder right beneath him and I brought my foot up to kick him in the chest as he went to stand and probably beat me to death.

He fell backwards. I heard the splash as I turned back to the little thing on the wood.

I hadn't quite made it in time to stop him. It was curled up with a little bit of purple stuff- which was probably blood- dripping from a shallow cut along it's stomach and down the little shrimp part of it.

Before the man could get out of the water, I reached down and picked it up. It started flailing and shouting again, in a little voice, but I didn't have time to do anything. I could hear the insane dude splashing around below.

The little mer-thing only weighed ten pounds, at most. I held it close to my chest and made a run for it. He'd expect me to go to the dock- and if the thing was alive this long out of water and still shouting, it could probably breath out of it- so I ran in the opposite direction, to one of the warehouses.

I pulled open the door, which jammed for a moment before I put my weight into it, and slammed it shut as soon as I was inside. I turned the lock.

The shrimp-maid was still flailing in my arms, so I set it on the ground. I pressed my ear to the side door and listened for the mans footsteps. I heard him shouting curses, stomping around for a moment, and then hurrying in the other direction.

I sighed and then remembered what I was doing.

The little guy looked mortified. It was bleeding, not heavily, but still bleeding. A few drops pooled on the wooden floor. It was dragging itself, mostly by the arms, away from me and towards the large crates scattered around, sobbing violently. It was dim in the warehouse but I could still make everything out.

What had I done? I closed my eyes a moment. I was supposed to be on my way home to work on some porn or something, not saving weird mermaid things from hungry old homeless men who were extremely creepy. I should learn to mind my own-

I was brought out of my thoughts as I heard the little thing start whimpering.

I looked down. It'd managed to get a few feet, but had collapsed and was lying on its side with its tail curled up to its belly. It was small, but the human-esque part of it had the physique of a ten year old. It looked male.

If it was inteliigent at all, somebody had just tried to eat it.

I took the few steps I needed to to stand over it- or him. He cried out again as my shadow fell on him and hugged his tail even closer to his injured stomach.

It really hurt to see.

“Hey, hey there, it's okay, it's alright,” I said quietly. I didn't even know if this thing was intelligent, or if it was like a dog, but it just looked so... human.

He put his hands up to hide his face from me. He seemed to be having no trouble breathing, which was good.

“No eat.”

I stopped. That voice was so small and weak, but it had definitely came from the little guys mouth.

“N-no, no eating. I'm not going to hurt you, little dude.”

His tears had a purple translucency about them. I breathed for a moment and took in the fact that this thing could talk.

“Shh, hey now, it's okay, it's alright,” I said, kneeling down to him. “I promise, I won't hurt you. I promise.”

His little eyes peeked out from behind fingers that were incredibly small. They were yellow, with purple-y pupils that were shrunk to specks.

The shirmp-human looked at me for a moment. I remembered my sunglasses and reached a hand up, slowly, to take them off.

He was shivering and still crying. I very, very slowly reached away from my glasses and over to the little guy. He tensed and hid his eyes again as he sobbed.

“It's okay, it's okay,” I said, inching my hand closer. “Hey, it's alright. You can understand me, right, little guy?”

There was nothing for a moment, then a nod. I sucked in a breath and grew hot with anger at the fact somebody was going to kill this thing, then shook it away.

“Okay. Then I won't hurt you. That guy, the one with the knife, he was crazy but he's gone now. No more knife. No more eating. You're safe now.”

I very gently laid a finger on his side, under his arm. He was so small and delicate, and when I touched him he felt cool and wet. His body went rigid, but I left my hand there and scooted closer to him.

“See? No hurting. I won't hurt you. I want to help, little guy. Can you breath up here?”

A pause, and then another little nod.

“Then we can hide in here until the scary guy leaves.” I kept my hand on his side. “It's okay. I promise you'll be okay.”

His eyes came out from behind his little fingers again. This time it was both of them, shot with purple and still dripping tears. He uncurled a little bit.

“Hurts,” he said, still staring at me. His voice was soprano and tiny, and maybe slightly distorted- I couldn't really tell. He sounded like a little kid and that just made things all the more painful. It was like my little brother when he'd fall and hurt himself or something, it was weird.

I had to pause for a moment. Whatever this thing was, it was intelligent enough to know English. It sounded like a small child, maybe four. I considered briefly what I'd gotten myself into, but the little sniffle he made snapped me out of any sort of reason.

“I can imagine, little guy,” I said, still rubbing his back. I looked around for anything to use as a bandage, but saw nothing. The warehouse just had crates in it. I thought for a moment, staring at the back of the prawn-shrimp-merman. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my pocket knife. I could cut off some of my shirt and use it to-

He watched me until I uncovered the blade. He squirmed away from me, leaving a small smear of blood on the floor. He started crying again before I could put it away.

“No, no, no eat, you said no eat,” he wailed.

I sat the knife down and quickly grabbed him so he couldn't hurt himself anymore. I flipped him over and scooped him up in one hand, so that he was on his back. He thrashed around and pushed at my chest with his tiny little hands, bawling.

“It's okay! Hey, shh, it's alright, I'm sorry I didn't say anything first- no eating, none. I promise, I'm not gonna hurt you,” I said, trying to make up for my own stupidity. “I'm gonna cut off some of my shirt, that's all, I'm sorry. You're gonna hurt yourself, little guy, it's alright.”

He whimpered and pushed against me, but without as much urgency.

“Please no eat,” he begged, crying. “I sorry.”

Oh god. Oh Jesus. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare myself for whatever I was doing. I had to keep it together.

“No no no, it's okay, don't be sorry,” I said, steadying my voice. “I promise I'm not going to eat you, okay? I won't. I won't hurt you, either. You're okay now. Okay?”

He sniffled. I got reminded of the times when me and Dave would fight, and then apologize to each other. In our younger days, we usually both cried about it. He stopped pushing against me, but kept a hold of two fist-fulls of shirt.

“Promise?” he asked, so very softly. His 'r' almost sounded like a 'w' and it would be cute if not for the circumstance. I could feel his impossibly tiny fingers. His little face was still smothered in fear. He had little tiny teeth, sharp ones, and a little bump for a nose.

“I promise. I really do, little guy.”

He sniffled again. He was so cool to the touch, and his dark hair was starting to dry. I wondered about his horns and why he had them as I gently sat him back down on the floor, close to my body.

“I'm gonna set you down and cut up my shirt, okay? Nothing else. Then I can wrap it around your belly and stop the bleeding,” I explained gently.

He was on his side, and had his eyes closed. His breathing was heavy and his face was contorted in pain. I didn't know if it was just that, or fear, too. I assumed it was both.

I very slowly reached to my side and grabbed the pocket knife. He kept his eyes closed and didn't even see it.

I took the knife and slipped it under my t-shirt. It was a really nice shirt that I'd had for years and liked a lot, but shirts were replaceable. I quickly cut off a strip from the bottom of it, long enough to wrap around merprawn twice, and put the knife away so he wouldn't have to see it anymore.

“No more knife,” I said, reaching a hand forward and touching his back. It was so small... he couldn't have been more than a foot and a half long, at most. His upper half was like a scaled down human, and just below his waist the carapacian shell began. I could see three pairs of little legs, but he was too curled up to see much more.

“Okay. I have this for your stomach- so it won't bleed anymore. Do you think you could uncurl for me?” I asked, still touching his back.

He nodded, but was still crying. Honestly, I didn't blame the little dude. Somebody had just tried to eat him while he was still alive. I watched as he slowly stretched out his lower body, jerking and whimpering the whole time.

“Shh, it's okay,” I said as he cried out. I briefly wondered if the crazy son of a bitch would come back if he heard us, but I figured that he'd just find something else to eat.

He nodded again and sniffled. “Hurts,” he said.

“You're doing great, little man. He only got you a little bit, right on your belly.” I consoled him. “You're gonna be fine.”

He sobbed but gave the smallest of nods as a response. He stretched the rest of the way out and hesitantly slid onto his back instead of his side. He was shaking.

His stomach really wasn't that bad, and it looked like the only part that had been cut. I moved my hand and grabbed the make-shift bandage. Luckily, the shrimp lower half seemed okay for the most part. It was just a shallow line from where his belly button would be, down to a few centimeters below the separation of his two halves.

“It doesn't look too bad, little dude,” I said, grabbing an end of the shirt-strip with either hand. “I'm gonna wrap this around you and tie it, and that should help a little bit. Is that okay?”

“Mm,” he mumbled with a little nod. He was still shaking and he had his eyes closed.

I took a moment to look at him. His belly and the underside of the shrimp-tail were almost white, while his back was darker grayish-purple. The dark purple of the blood was smeared around, but it didn't appear to be bleeding too heavily.

I gently slid the bandage underneath him. He arched his back and hissed as I started wrapping it around him.

“Tell me if its too tight, okay?” I asked.

Another little nod. His eyes were closed tight and he was grimacing.

I pulled the piece of cloth snug around his body and then a little more. His back was still arched and he was crying. The little guy looked completely terrified. I wondered what it would be like to be completely at the mercy of somebody ten times my size.

I pulled it as tight as I dared, careful not to get any of his little legs caught. He made a noise and I loosened the bandage a little. “Is this okay?” I asked him.

He nodded quickly, still shaking.

I tied the cloth and made sure it was going to stay.

“There you go, does that feel a little bit better?” I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He didn't say anything. All he did was crack open his eyes and look at me like he was lost and confused. I opened my mouth to say something when he reached his little hands up and caught hold of my hand, which was almost the size of his torso.

He grabbed at my fingers with both hands and I let him bring my palm closer to him. He hugged it and buried his face in my skin.

My heart ached as I very gently scooped him up and hugged him close to my chest. “Hey now, it's okay little guy. It's alright.”

“Thank you,” he sobbed. His arms looked like they were going to bruise where the jerk had grabbed him, but it didn't look too serious. He started crying again. I had to stop, I really did, because I was having trouble comprehending that he was talking and crying and not just some really weird looking fish.

His little face was now pressed to my shirt, with his fingers grasping at the fabric. His tail was stretched out more than it was earlier, and I noticed that something seemed off about the caudal fin.

I blinked. It was... torn. And for the most part, gone. His fin was broken.

“Hey, little dude, what happened to your tail?” I asked, gently touching the shell with a finger.

“Knife,” he said softly. “Tail broken.”

“The bone, or just the fin?”

“Just fin,” he clarified. Then he looked up at me.

I looked back at him. That was what was used for propulsion in the water... if it was torn and ruined, the little guy would never make it in the ocean. He'd get torn to shreds, or he'd be swimming in circles.

It struck me then that this was going to be a long-term engagement.

“Cronus,” he said, bringing me out of my stupor.

I blinked and looked down at him. “Hmm?”

“Cronus. I Cronus,” he said again.

His name, of course. I didn't expect him to have one, but apparently he did. Who named weird mershrimp? Did he have parents to get back to?

“My name's Dirk,” I said.

“Dirk,” Cronus repeated.

“That's me,” I said.

He stared at me for a little bit, then uncurled one of his fists and used it to wipe the purple streaks from his face. He looked at me for a moment longer before he sat his face against my chest and let out a long breath.

“Thank you, Dirk,” he said.

“Don't mention it, little dude.”

 


End file.
